#grumkins

[asoiafreadthru]

A Game of Thrones, Jon III

The little man gestured up at the Wall with a gnarled black walking stick.

“Makes you wonder what lies beyond.

“Why is it that when one man builds a wall, the next man immediately needs to know what’s on the other side?”

He cocked his head and looked at Jon with his curious mismatched eyes. “You do want to know what’s on the other side, don’t you?”

“It’s nothing special,” Jon said.

He wanted to ride with Benjen Stark on his rangings, deep into the mysteries of the haunted forest, wanted to fight Mance Rayder’s wildlings and ward the realm against the Others, but it was better not to speak of the things you wanted.

“The rangers say it’s just woods and mountains and frozen lakes, with lots of snow and ice.”

“And the grumkins and snarks,” Tyrion said. “Let us not forget them, Lord Snow, or else what’s that big thing for?”

#a game of thrones #jon iii #asoiaf #a song of ice and fire #tyrion lannister #jon snow #the wall #beyond the wall #walls #benjen stark #night's watch #rangers #rangings #haunted forest #mance rayder #wildlings #the others #want #woodlands #mountains #lakes #ice #snow #grumkins #snarks #beyond #curious #eyes #mysteries #lord snow

[agentrouka-blog]

"Why did he attack me?" Tyrion asked with a sidelong glance at the direwolf. He wiped blood and dirt from his mouth with the back of his hand. "Maybe he thought you were a grumkin."- Tyrion(AGOT II). Here Jon compared Tyrion to grumkin. Grumkins are associated with Others and Dragons as mythical creatures who only exist in stories according to Westroes. As stumpy mentioned Jaqen is associated with grumkin. What do you think about symbolism used for grumkin?

Hi anon!

I have no sophisticated theory on any symbolism surrounding grumkins. Just vague thought soup.

@istumpysk pointed out an interesting thing in her latest Sansa reread chapter about grumkins granting wishes, which has its mirror in Arya's time at Harrenhal.

In Old Nan's stories the grumkins crafted magic things that could make a wish come true. Did I wish him dead? she wondered, before she remembered that she was too old to believe in grumkins. (ASOS, Sansa V)

Jaqen granted Arya three deaths, three magical wishes.

Jaqen still owed her one death. In Old Nan's stories about men who were given magic wishes by a grumkin, you had to be especially careful with the third wish, because it was the last. (ACOK, Arya IX)

It reminded me that Arya has another grumkin connection:

 Perhaps the grumkins had stolen her real sister. (AGOT, Sansa I)

We know that there is a later exchange of her real sister for a different girl (Jeyne Poole) while Arya is off at.. Jaqen's hometown. Braavos. Grumkin city?

Basically, the grumkins might serve as a vague mirror to the Faceless Men.

Which in turn reminded me of another use: Tyrion, who has the most mentions of grumkins of them all. At first this made me hopeful that it would support my theory that Arya will be the one to end Tyrion, since she’s essentially a little grumkin-in-training right now. 

But it’s more geared toward Tyrion being a grumkin himself. So that neat little connection didn’t work out. 

But as a grumkin Tyrion is placed in opposition to Jon. They first come up in an interesting confrontation with Jon. Here, Tyrion is the grumkin, mocking Jon about joining the Night’s Watch, only for his loyal wolf to flatten him into the dirt. “Perhaps he thought you were a grumkin.” That image is picked up again later when he visits Winterfell and the three resident wolves circle and attack him.

If grumkins can be expanded to all the dark mentors offering “gifts” to the Starklings and “stealing” them, which would certainly cover Arya with the Faceless Men, and Sansa with the Lannisters and Littlefinger, and Bran in the weirwodd cave, then it at least serves as some nice foreshadowing for the Starks gaining the upper hand on their respective grumkins. 

Or maybe it’s nothing, I mean, who knows? :)

#grumkins #anti tyrion lannister #arya stark #starklings #jon snow

[nightswatchdisbandmentera]

I can’t help but feel that Jon specifically being the Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch is perhaps the most important role he can have. The average Westerosi really doesn’t care much about a prophesied prince or king. They’re not too fussed about magic swords meant to kill snarks and grumkins. What they do know is that when the Others come knocking, it’s the Night’s Watch that stands between them and death. The Watch may have fallen on harsh times and may lack the prestige it once had, but it has a very real history of being the one line of defense in Westeros. It’s even accredited in songs as being the cause of victory in the first Long Night. And where legends fall out of fashion and eventually become forgotten, the Watch has been an ever present and tangible figure in Westeros for thousands and thousands of years. So what happens when winter really comes? Westeros won’t look for a prophetic savior. The first thing they’ll look to is the Watch. And who leads the Watch at the moment? Jon. And by extension, who will be the one people look to for survival and leadership? It’s Jon. Jojen said it best: at night, all cloaks are black. In the upcoming war, all of humanity becomes a part of the nights watch. And Jon becomes humanity’s natural leader. If we ever see another great council, I imagine that Jon will be offered the crown primarily because of his position as the LC and his actions leading the war effort. His parentage will merely be an added bonus; assuming it’s even considered in the first place.

#asoiaf #jon snow #valyrianscrolls #the night's watch #my stuff

[silverflameataraxia]

"Most times," Jon answered in a flat voice.  "But tonight Lady Stark thought it might give insult to the royal family to seat a bastard among them."

AGoT, Jon I

Nymeria was waiting for her in the guardroom at the base of the stairs. She bounded to her feet as soon as she caught sight of Arya. Arya grinned. The wolf pup loved her, even if no one else did. They went everywhere together, and Nymeria slept in her room, at the foot of her bed. If Mother had not forbidden it, Arya would gladly  have taken the wolf with her to needlework.  Let Septa Mordane complain about her stitches then.

"A shade more fun than needlework," Arya gave back at him. Jon grinned, reached over, and messed up her hair.  Arya flushed. They had always been close. Jon had their father's face, as she did. They were the only ones. Robb and Sansa and Bran and even little Rickon all took after the Tullys, with easy smiles and fire in their hair. When Arya had been little, she had been afraid that meant that she was a bastard too. It had been Jon she had gone to in her fear, and Jon who had reassured her.

AGoT, Arya I

Alone and humiliated, Sansa took the long way back to the inn, where she knew Septa Mordane would be waiting. Lady padded quietly by her side. She was almost in tears. All she wanted was for things to be nice and pretty,  the way they were in the songs. Why couldn't Arya be sweet and delicate and kind, like Princess Marcella? She would have liked a sister like that.

Sansa could never understand how two sisters, born only two years apart, could be so different. It would have been easier if Arya had been a bastard, like their half brother Jon. She even looked like Jon, with the long face and brown hair of the Starks, and nothing of their Lady mother in her face or her coloring. And Jon's mother had been common, or so people whispered. Once, when she was littler, Sansa had even asked Mother if perhaps there hadn't been some mistake. Perhaps the grumkins had stolen her real sister. But Mother had only laughed and said no, Arya was her daughter and Sansa's trueborn sister, blood of their blood. Sansa could not think why Mother would want to lie about it, so she supposed it had to be true.

AGoT, Sansa I

Jon and Arya have always felt out of place in life, but they've always found their home with each other.

#a song of ice and fire #jon snow #catelyn stark #jon x arya #nymeria #septa mordane #anti sansa stark #asoiaf #anti jonsa #catelyn tully #arya stark #a game of thrones #jonrya #pro arya stark #agot #jonarya #george rr martin

[thelustybraavosimaid]

Jon of House Snark™️

"It's no freak," Jon said calmly. "That's a direwolf. They grow larger than the other kind." Theon Greyjoy said, "There's not been a direwolf sighted south of the Wall in two hundred years."

"I see one now," Jon replied. (Bran I, AGoT)

--

"This is no toy," he told her. "Be careful you don't cut yourself. The edges are sharp enough to shave with." "Girls don't shave," Arya said. "Maybe they should. Have you ever seen the septa's legs?" (Jon II, AGoT)

Tyrion sagged back to the ground with a grunt. "Don't help me, then. I'll sit right here until you leave." Jon Snow stroked Ghost's thick white fur, smiling now. "Ask me nicely."

...

"Why did he attack me?" Tyrion asked with a sidelong glance at the direwolf. He wiped blood and dirt from his mouth with the back of his hand. "Maybe he thought you were a grumkin." (Tyrion II, AGoT)

--

"You broke my wrist, bastard boy." Jon lifted his eyes at the sullen voice. Grenn loomed over him, thick of neck and red of face, with three of his friends behind him. He knew Todder, a short ugly boy with an unpleasant voice. The recruits all called him Toad. The other two were the ones Yoren had brought north with them, Jon remembered, rapers taken down in the Fingers. He'd forgotten their names. He hardly ever spoke to them, if he could help it. They were brutes and bullies, without a thimble of honor between them. Jon stood up. "I'll break the other one for you if you ask nicely."

...

"You make us look bad," complained Toad.

"You looked bad before I ever met you," Jon told him.

...

Alliser Thorne overheard him. "Lord Snow wants to take my place now." He sneered. "I'd have an easier time teaching a wolf to juggle than you will training this aurochs." "I'll take that wager, Ser Alliser," Jon said. "I'd love to see Ghost juggle." (Jon III, AGoT)

--

Slynt slammed a fist on the table. "I heard you! Ser Alliser had your measure true enough, it seems. You lie through your bastard's teeth. Well, I will not suffer it. I will not! You might have fooled this crippled blacksmith, but not Janos Slynt! Oh, no. Janos Slynt does not swallow lies so easily. Did you think my skull was stuffed with cabbage?" "I don't know what your skull is stuffed with. My lord." (Jon IX, ASoS)

--

Thorne was much the more clever of the two, Jon realized; this had his stink all over it. He was trapped. "I'll go," he said in a clipped, curt voice. "M'lord," Janos Slynt reminded him. "You'll address me—" "I'll go, my lord. But you are making a mistake, my lord. You are sending the wrong man, my lord. Just the sight of me is going to anger Mance. My lord would have a better chance of reaching terms if he sent—" (Jon X, ASoS)

--

"Words. Words are wind. Why do you think I abandoned Dragonstone and sailed to the Wall, Lord Snow?" "I am no lord, sire. You came because we sent for you, I hope. Though I could not say why you took so long about it."

Surprisingly, Stannis smiled at that. (Jon XI, ASoS)

--

"What are you doing here, bastard?" Thorne asked. "Bathing. But don't let me spoil your plotting." Jon climbed from the water, dried, dressed, and left them to conspire. (Jon XII, ASoS)

--

"Close the door, Sam." Faint scars still marked Jon's cheek, where an eagle had once tried to rip his eye out. "Did that wretch break the skin?" Sam eased the books down and peeled off his glove. "He did." He felt faint. "I'm bleeding." "We all shed our blood for the Watch. Wear thicker gloves." Jon shoved a chair toward him with a foot. (Samwell I, AFfC)

--

The red woman walked beside Jon down the steps. "His Grace is growing fond of you."

"I can tell. He only threatened to behead me twice." (Jon I, ADwD)

--

This is wrong, Jon thought. "Stop."

Emmett turned back, frowning. "My lord?"

"I will not hang him," said Jon. "Bring him here."

"Oh, Seven save us," he heard Bowen Marsh cry out.

The smile that Lord Janos Slynt smiled then had all the sweetness of rancid butter. Until Jon said, "Edd, fetch me a block," and unsheathed Longclaw. (Jon II, ADwD)

Alys Karstark leaned close to Jon. "Snow during a wedding means a cold marriage. My lady mother always said so." He glanced at Queen Selyse. There must have been a blizzard the day she and Stannis wed.

--

"I have slain a giant, boy. Why should I fear some flea-ridden northman who paints one on his shield?"

"The giant was running away. Mors won't be." (Jon IV, ADwD)

--

...

"I see what you are, Snow. Half a wolf and half a wildling, baseborn get of a traitor and a whore. You would deliver a highborn maid to the bed of some stinking savage. Did you sample her yourself first?" He laughed. "If you mean to kill me, do it and be damned for a kinslayer. Stark and Karstark are one blood."

"My name is Snow."

"Bastard."

"Guilty. Of that, at least." (Jon X, ADwD)

--

"You say these boys will serve as squires. Surely the lord commander does not mean they will be trained at arms?" Jon's anger flared. "No, my lord, I mean to set them to sewing lacy smallclothes." (Jon XI, ADwD)

--

All your questions shall be answered. Look to the skies, Lord Snow. And when you have your answers, send to me. Winter is almost upon us now. I am your only hope." "A fool's hope." Jon turned and left her.

...

"Dark wings, dark words," muttered Tormund. "Isn't that what you kneelers say?" "We say, Bleed a cold but feast a fever too," Jon told him. "We say, Never drink with Dornishmen when the moon is full. We say a lot of things." (Jon XIII, ADwD)

#asoiaf #jon snow

[sdwolfpup]

Oh festive prompt 27 puhhhhleese!!

Last one! 😊 A little post-ADWD book canon that is not exactly festive but does have snow.

(I appreciate the asks from people! The fics that I didn't post separately to AO3, I'll add to my A Job Lot of Junk collection after this.)

27. confessing a crush when it's snowing

In the end, the sun rose again. Though it had felt like it would never happen, the Long Night finally ended.

The winter hadn't, though. Jaime had hoped, when the last Other had fallen, that they would take the snow with them--but his luck had never been that good.

At least, not until Brienne of Tarth had dragged him across Westeros.

Some would say she had been the start of his bad luck, and there had been a time he would have agreed. Losing a hand would make even the most stalwart idealist falter, and he had burned away his idealism long ago.

But since she had stormed into his life with her stubborn honor and bullheaded bravery, he had never felt more grateful for being alive. He had intended to tell her so a hundred times, but there had always been distance, or something more important between them, or his own cowardice. Now that they had survived the Long Night, there were no more excuses. Plans were already being made for what came next, and he could not bear the thought of not being part of hers. He had to tell her, or risk losing her forever.

If only he could find her.

"You don't know where she is? Are you not her squire?" he demanded of the trembling stick of a boy in front of him a few days after the Long Night.

"Y-y-y-yes, s-s-s-ser."

"How do you lose a person that size, then?"

Podrick flinched, as though expecting a blow. "S-s-s-s-s-sorry, s-s-s-ser."

Jaime sighed and forced himself to calm. He had seen Brienne just last night, when he had watched her eat a meal of mostly inedible mush with Podrick and the useless Hyle Hunt. It wasn't the boy's fault she was an eternally early riser with a predilection for solitude, even after the most difficult and dangerous battle of their lives.

"Never mind," he told the boy more kindly. "I'll find her myself."

The boy was still stuttering over his thanks as Jaime walked away.

*****

"There you are!" he finally said, hours later. He'd tromped all over and through Winterfell until he'd finally decided she'd run away in the night, or been taken by grumkins. Then, on his way to the stables to procure a horse to search for her further afield to make sure she hadn't died, he'd found her exiting them. The snow had started to fall again, and Jaime felt a shiver roll through him.

"Where have you been?" he nearly shouted. "I looked everywhere for you."

Brienne came to a halt, her blue eyes going very wide and darting away, as if he'd caught her doing something she shouldn't. No one had been forbidden from leaving Winterfell, though it was foolish to go alone so soon after the Long Night.

"I... I went for a ride," she said in the soft voice he heard in his dreams.

"On your own? Without even telling your poor, worried squire?"

Her massive brow furrowed. "You spoke with Podrick?"

"I couldn't very well speak with you, could I?" he snarled.

That furrow turned into an annoyed crease.

"I am free to go where and when I please, Ser. Just as you are."

He laughed dully. "Indeed." The snow was falling harder now. "You are entirely free. Free to take rides by yourself in the countryside. Free to eat with that useless hedge knight, Hunt. You could even scamper back to Tarth tomorrow, if you wanted."

Brienne huffed, loud as a bear. "Were you only looking for for me to harangue me about my independence? If so, might we do it inside where it's warmer?"

He planted his feet and blinked away the snowflakes that were sticking to his lashes. "Here is fine. So tell me, my lady, why were you out riding with nary a word to anyone?"

There went her eyes again, escaping his gaze to stare somewhere off his left ear. "I needed the air."

Jaime gestured around them. "There is more than enough air here."

"I do not have to explain myself to you," she groused. She started to move past him and he grabbed her wrist. She spun, her other hand coming up as if to fight and he released her immediately. "What do you want?" Her voice was thin and sharp as an icicle.

"I want to know what you're hiding from me."

"Nothing." She looked almost as if she might cry, and a fissure cracked across his heart.

"Brienne," he said softly and she bit down on her thick, chapped lip. "You promised me no more lies." She flushed, her head drooping. "I want only to help you. So tell me: why did you go out on your own? Why did you tell no one?" And then, because he could not stop himself, he pleaded, "Why did you not tell me?"

Her hands wrapped around each other, her knuckles red from the cold. Snow was trapped in her thin, plaited hair and had started turning her nose an unsightly pink where it melted upon it.

He thought she might choose rather to freeze than to speak, until she said in a resigned voice, "I needed to think. And I needed to be away from you to do it."

The chasm of concern that had opened in his chest iced over in the bitter wind of her words. "I see."

"It is not what you think," she hurriedly said.

The snow swirled around them, but Jaime felt none of it, numb inside and out. "It seems very clear to me."

"You... confuse me," she explained haltingly, her hands throttling each other. "I cannot think clearly when you are near."

The ice ceased hardening, and he held himself very still. "I did not realize my mere presence was such a problem."

She exhaled sharply, a warm blast of air in the cold. "You are vexing," she said, as though scolding him. "And confounding. And I needed clarity."

"About what?" he asked, desperate to understand.

"About you." Brienne's hands waved wide and wild in the air, swirling snowflakes all around her. "About why you would search all of Winterfell looking for me and then act as if you don't care once you are here. About how we fought at each other's side through all the Long Night, and yet we barely even eat together now that it is done. About what you did for me with Lady Catelyn." Her voice had dropped, almost lost in the snow. "And how you have refused my every gratitude since."

Jaime sighed. "That was nothing to be grateful for."

"I am grateful."

"Because you are a naive fool."

She growled and took a threatening step nearer. He felt his blood pump to life, heating his veins and cracking the ice.

"A fool I may be, but I am not naive," she said with a force and conviction that made his spine jolt with pride--and his knees weak with something far less honorable. "Not any longer. Not after all I have been through." She pierced him with her astonishing blue eyes. "Not after all we have been through."

His usually reliable tongue failed him, and Jaime could only draw a pitiful excuse for a smirk upon his face.

Brienne frowned. "You have had my honest answer, ser, now give me yours: why were you so determined to find me? What do you want?"

The snow blew about them, white and cold and a distant reminder of the dark freeze that had so recently gripped the world. But for Jaime, it was spring in Brienne's eyes, in the familiar, frustrated concern in her face. In the way his heart was blooming in his chest, shaking off the lingering frost.

"What do I want?" he repeated, a slow, simmering smile growing on his face. Brienne only looked more wary--and he found it endearing. "I should think that was obvious. I want you, Brienne."

"For what?"

He chuckled fondly. "For whatever you wish of me. I find myself at odds and ends when you are not there to drag me about."

She glowered at him. "I do not drag you."

"Not any longer," he allowed. Then, with all the seriousness of intention he could muster, he said, "Now, I follow you willingly. I want to follow you for as many days as you will allow me, Brienne. Wherever you may go."

He knew it was not the snow that made her cheeks swirl suddenly pink. The color reminded him of the first sunrise after the Long Night--and he was as grateful for and overwhelmed by it.

"I would rather you walked beside me," she said in hushed tones, her eyes searching his own.

He hoped she could see the truth in them when he replied, "That is a place I fought demons off to be."

"Do you not see that I fought for that place by you as well?" she asked without reprimand.

He inhaled sharply, her words filling his very lungs. She had found him as often as he had her during the battles. She had found him from the beginning, the lost and lonely man that everyone else had overlooked. "Perhaps I am the fool," he said in a choked voice.

He held out his hand and she took it. He felt her trembling as they walked hand-in-hand across the courtyard. The snow slowed to a caressing drift, and the sun fought valiantly through the flat white of the sky to peek through in the distance. Perhaps later there would be warmth and the first breath of spring.

It was a marvelous day to be alive, and walking beside Brienne.

#jaime x brienne #my fic #fic post #asks answered #winterstale24 #festive prompts #asoiaf

[thelandswemadeofpaper]

Making the Stark siblings with dark hair instead of their original Tully's look is bad for two main reasons:

Catelyn's fear and bitterness of Jon

Jon and Arya are the only ones with the 'Stark look', the dark hair and long face, Catelyn's firstborn and secondborn begin so much like her while her husband's bastard looks like Ned could bring issues about her children's legitimacy.

A reminder that Cersei's children looking like her while Robert's bastards were all Baratheons in appearance is their main proof of her infidelity.

Arya relationship and parallels with Jon

Arya is the 'half-sibling' Jon is closest to, they are the only ones with the 'Stark look', the long face and dark hair.

They had always been close. Jon had their father’s face, as she did. They were the only ones….When Arya had been little, she had been afraid that meant that she was a bastard too. It had been Jon she had gone to in her fear, and Jon who had reassured her. (AGOT, Arya I)

..........................................................................................

It would have been easier if Arya had been a bastard, like their half brother Jon. She even looked like Jon, with the long face and brown hair of the Starks, and nothing of their lady mother in her face or her coloring. And Jon’s mother had been common, or so people whispered. Once, when she was littler, Sansa had even asked Mother if perhaps there hadn’t been some mistake. Perhaps the grumkins had stolen her real sister. But Mother had only laughed and said no, Arya was her daughter and Sansa’s trueborn sister, blood of her blood.  (AGOT, Sansa I)

A minor thing, but Sansa begin the only redhaired one is a little...bad, I don't know how to explain it, but I hated it. Not Anti-Sansa.

#asoiaf #jon snow #robb stark #bran stark #arya stark #sansa stark #got #game of thrones #house stark #catelyn stark #house tully #ned stark

[esther-dot]

Any thoughts on Sansa saying she wants the Great Sept burned? Is she a witch?

Dontos nodded. "He made a great pyre of the trees as an offering to his new god. The red priestess made him do it. They say she rules him now, body and soul. He's vowed to burn the Great Sept of Baelor too, if he takes the city." "Let him." When Sansa had first beheld the Great Sept with its marble walls and seven crystal towers, she'd thought it was the most beautiful building in the world, but that had been before Joffrey beheaded her father on its steps. "I want it burned." "Hush, child, the gods will hear you." "Why should they? They never hear my prayers." (ACOK, Sansa IV)

No, I don't think she's a witch, but there is something to her wishes coming true:

I hope he falls and shames himself, she thought bitterly. I hope Ser Balon kills him. When Joffrey proclaimed her father's death, it had been Janos Slynt who seized Lord Eddard's severed head by the hair and raised it on high for king and crowd to behold, while Sansa wept and screamed. later -> Morros dropped his lance, fought for balance, and lost. One foot caught in a stirrup as he fell, and the runaway charger dragged the youth to the end of the lists, head bouncing against the ground. Joff hooted derision. Sansa was appalled, wondering if the gods had heard her vengeful prayer. But when they disentangled Morros Slynt from his horse, they found him bloodied but alive. "Tommen, we picked the wrong foe for you," the king told his brother. "The straw knight jousts better than that one." (ACOK, Sansa I)

Now, he didn't die, but I still think that's the beginning of a fun little pattern.

Across the city, thousands had jammed into the Great Sept of Baelor on Visenya's Hill, and they would be singing too, their voices swelling out over the city, across the river, and up into the sky. Surely the gods must hear us, she thought. [...] ...toward the end, she even sang for Tyrion the Imp and for the Hound. He is no true knight but he saved me all the same, she told the Mother. Save him if you can, and gentle the rage inside him. later -> Her throat was dry and tight with fear, and every song she had ever known had fled from her mind. Please don't kill me, she wanted to scream, please don't. She could feel him twisting the point, pushing it into her throat, and she almost closed her eyes again, but then she remembered. It was not the song of Florian and Jonquil, but it was a song. Her voice sounded small and thin and tremulous in her ears. Gentle Mother, font of mercy, [...] She had forgotten the other verses. When her voice trailed off, she feared he might kill her, but after a moment the Hound took the blade from her throat, never speaking. Some instinct made her lift her hand and cup his cheek with her fingers. The room was too dark for her to see him, but she could feel the stickiness of the blood, and a wetness that was not blood. "Little bird," he said once more, his voice raw and harsh as steel on stone. Then he rose from the bed. Sansa heard cloth ripping, followed by the softer sound of retreating footsteps. later -> "It's done! Done! Done! The city is saved. (ACOK, Sansa VII)

Twofer! The people are saved and the Hound's fury/assault ends in him weeping.

Not sure if we should count this one, she did want to kill Joffrey back in AGOT and she thinks about praying for Margaery's protection from him, but I can't remember a specific wish in ASOS:

Sansa followed unresisting. I could never abide the weeping of women, Joff once said, but his mother was the only woman weeping now. In Old Nan's stories the grumkins crafted magic things that could make a wish come true. Did I wish him dead? (ASOS, Sansa V)

Martin is even playing this game in TWOW!

This time her eyes met Harry's. She smiled just for him, and said a silent prayer to the Maiden. Please, he doesn't need to love me, just make him like me, just a little, that would be enough for now. later -> “I hope you joust better than you talk.” For a moment he looked shocked. But as the song was ending, he burst into a laugh. “No one told me you were clever.” He has good teeth, she thought, straight and white. And when he smiles, he has the nicest dimples. She ran one finger down his cheek. “Should we ever wed, you’ll have to send Saffron back to her father. I’ll be all the spice you’ll want.” He grinned. “I will hold you to that promise, my lady. Until that day, may I wear your favor in the tourney?” (TWOW, Alayne I)

The guy is charmed. Oops, I almost forgot the best example:

Frog-faced Lord Slynt sat at the end of the council table wearing a black velvet doublet and a shiny cloth-of-gold cape, nodding with approval every time the king pronounced a sentence. Sansa stared hard at his ugly face, remembering how he had thrown down her father for Ser Ilyn to behead, wishing she could hurt him, wishing that some hero would throw him down and cut off his head. But a voice inside her whispered, There are no heroes, and she remembered what Lord Petyr had said to her, here in this very hall. "Life is not a song, sweetling," he'd told her. "You may learn that one day to your sorrow." In life, the monsters win, she told herself, and now it was the Hound's voice she heard, a cold rasp, metal on stone. "Save yourself some pain, girl, and give him what he wants." (AGOT, Sansa VI) later -> much later -> much much later -> Janos Slynt twisted his neck around to stare up at him. "Please, my lord. Mercy. I'll … I'll go, I will, I …" No, thought Jon. You closed that door. Longclaw descended. (ADWD, Jon II)

I understand that politically, it would be a mess for Cersie to blow it up a la the show, and she'd lose all support blah blah blah, but I think the Sept will burn. Maybe that's later during Dany's great kaboomb of KL, but I'd kinda hate it if it was burned as part of everything and didn't get singular focus. Martin so frequently references Ned's death on the steps of the Sept we have this feeling of it being a place of horror and great injustice, and I'd like it to be a real moment. I would find it rewarding if it was Cersei, because she’d unwittingly be carrying out a wish of Sansa’s, a form of justice for the Starks. Also, we have that whole scene of her being enraptured by the tower of the hand burning, she has her own trauma tied to the Sept now, and in her scene of shame, she sees Ned and Sansa, so it’s all very present even as late as ADWD. And we know Martin is prepping another wish coming true in TWOW:

👀👀👀 Regardless of when/how, I do think Sansa will get her wish regarding the Sept and Harry (although I’m sure that one will upset her, she’s very soft-hearted!)

Again, not because she's a witch, because of the author's interest in justice and also, part of his series long project of unwinding simplistic beliefs and notions to replace them with a much more complex truth. Not to say people are dumb to believe in the first place, but more of an examination of faith and how prayers being answered can be the mystical explanation for a something that someone does for us, or we might even do for ourselves. As in, it was Sansa's longstanding kindness to the Hound, the relationship she built with him as well as her treatment of him in the moment that saved her from him.

#dot chat #sansa stark #asoiaf speculation

[rohanneofcoldmoat]

I've been thinking about Tyrion and his connections to the next Battle for the Dawn/Second Long Night, and there's just so much there. Tyrion effectively begins his story by heading to the Wall, it's his stated intention to do so in his first chapter. When he arrives there he befriends key players Jon Snow and Jeor Mormont and has firsthand experience with the primal, supernatural fear generated by the Others and the dangers lurking beyond the Wall.

As he stood there and looked at all that darkness with no fires burning anywhere, with the wind blowing and the cold like a spear in his guts, Tyrion Lannister felt as though he could almost believe the talk of the Others, the enemy in the night. His jokes of grumkins and snarks no longer seemed quite so droll.

Jeor later says that House Lannister has never been a friend to the Night's Watch, but Tyrion's experience there in AGOT results in him breaking that mold a bit. The issue of the Wall is raised again when Tyrion is acting hand, and while he maintains a level of distance and disinterest to protect his image, he does offer them help. Throughout the book, he consistently sends the Watch men, usually as a punitive alternative to executing them, from Janos Slynt to the various dungeon occupants he sends with Alliser Thorne to the men who planned on helping the Redwyne twins escape Kingslanding. And in the instance where Thorne demands an audience and calls Tyrion a fool for brushing him off, Tyrion is once again reminded of that feeling of doom and danger he felt while looking out at the lands beyond the wall.

Tyrion remembered a cold night under the stars when he'd stood beside the boy Jon Snow and a great white wolf atop the Wall at the end of the world, gazing out at the trackless dark beyond. He had felt—what?—something, to be sure, a dread that had cut like that frigid northern wind. A wolf had howled off in the night, and the sound had sent a shiver through him.

And the issues of the Wall and the dangers lurking beyond it are raised again, when Tyrion's power and influence are considerably reduced as Master of Coin. He advocates for the Gold Cloaks who deserted their post during the Blackwater to be sent to the watch rather than crippled and left to beg in the city. Tyrion also tries, insistently but unsuccessfully, to convince his father that Janos Slynt is the wrong man for the job of Lord Commander. Clearly, there's a level of personal grievance there, as Tyrion sent Slynt to the Wall to get rid of him. However, the scene is couched with Tyrion expressing genuine concern and regret that Jeor Mormont may be dead, and as a result there's a sense that Tyrion is genuinely advocating for what he believes to be the best interests of the Watch.

Tyrion liked that notion not at all. "The black brothers choose their own commander," he reminded them. "Lord Slynt is new to the Wall. I know, I sent him there. Why should they pick him over a dozen more senior men?" --- Tyrion hitched forward. "Janos Slynt is the wrong man, Father. We'd do better with the commander of the Shadow Tower. Or Eastwatch-by-the-Sea." --- Tyrion's anger flashed. "Lord Janos is a hollow suit of armor who will sell himself to the highest bidder."

So Tyrion has been something of a "friend to the Watch" consistently throughout the series, and it's almost certain he's going to meet up with/became an advisor to Dany. If he continues his efforts advocating on behalf of the Night's Watch in that role, I think he'll find a much more receptive ear.

That night she dreamt that she was Rhaegar, riding to the Trident. But she was mounted on a dragon, not a horse. When she saw the Usurper's rebel host across the river they were armored all in ice, but she bathed them in dragonfire and they melted away like dew and turned the Trident into a torrent.

#tyrion lannister #daenerys targaryen #valyrianscrolls #asoiaf #*

[aifsaath]

OFCIR scrapped scene

@evabluepark888 @maryonaccross @gwenllian-in-the-abbey

Just so you know we write. I'm just mostly scrapping the scenes, because they don't fit the overall narrative flow. But this is cute and you guys love the grumkin, so, here you go:

The very same chaos that had settled in his chambers was to be found in the children’s room as well. As soon as he was wheeled in by Ser Marston, he was welcomed by a loud bang. Jaehaera, who had always loathed baths, was being chased by a harried nurse, almost nude but for the thinnest shirt covering her knees. From behind the painted screen, Aegon caught a glimpse of Gaemon who was happily splashing in the bathtub. On the bench sat Aeg, prim, proper and wide-eyed at the scene of the wild pursuit, while another nurse combed back his wet hair. Jaehaera crawled under her bed, only her bare little feet peeking out from under the wooden frame.

The nurses stopped in their tracks, bowing deeply. Aegon waved them away with a grin.

“Grumkin, what the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“No baths!”

“I’m afraid that’s not negotiable, sweetling.” He wheeled himself towards the bed. He couldn’t resist reaching to the dirty little foot, tickling the sole.

“PAPA!” A thud. “Ouch!”

“Get out, Jae. I need to talk with all three of you.”

A while later, the children were gathered around Gaemon’s bathtub. The little boy giggled at the commotion around. Jaehaera, covered with dust head to toe, pouted, her cheeks puffed, as the nurse wrapped a dressing robe around her narrow shoulders. Aeg shot him a concerned look, the same anxious tick of the brow Jaehaerys used to do.

“Children,” he said, and it surprised him how weary and raspy his own voice sounded. “First, Jae. I know you hate bathing, but since you have kindly wiped the floor with your own body, it has become a necessity. It’s either a proper bath or the nurse rubs you clean with a rough washcloth. It’s your choice.”

Jae frowned, crossing her thin arms over her chest. Neither of her options was her particular favourite but Aegon had long since realized that Jae’s sensitivities did not bother her so much when she was put in charge.

“The bath,” she grumbled. “But I do it myself!”

“Thank you,” he smiled. When he turned to his son’s moon-round face, guilt settled heavily in his gut. Damn Lord Corlys, damn his demands, and damn Mother’s too-reasonable arguments. And yet, he had to pay the lip service to propriety for the lords of the realm to take his promise to Baela seriously. It mattered not that the young woman adored Gaemon; He was Aegon’s bastard, and Aegon wouldn’t put it past Cregan Stark to spin the boy’s existence as an affront to the peace pact.

“Now, Gaemon. Sweet boy, I know how much you want to attend the wedding.” He paused. There was no way to break the news gently. “But today… You need to stay here in the nursery.”

“Papa?” His eyes grew huge, and Aegon noticed the tell-tale wobble in his pointy chin. The child started to sob. Aegon sighed, leaning forward to press a kiss to his reddening cheeks.

“I know, I know.”

“That’s not fair!” Jae yelled. “I want to stay too!”

Aegon couldn’t help himself but chuckle at the absurdity of the argument. One wanted to go, another wished to stay, and none got what they asked for. Poor young Aeg cast nervous looks between them, unsure how to proceed.

“Imps, none of it is fair. I know. But remember how I told you about certain rules about bastards and silly adults who jump to conclusions?” When they nodded, he kissed them both on their noses. “You’re both smart. I am sorry I have to ask this of you, but I must.”

#jaehaera targaryen #aegon ii targaryen #gaemon palehair #aegon iii targaryen #our fathers clad in red

[leupagus]

A Gale of Wolves, Chapter 9: Tyrion

"What about House Stark?" Daenerys asked. "This second wife whose victory in the North you're so willing to bet on."

An excellent question. "Sansa won't oppose you," Tyrion said, "but she won't back you. Not at first. She won't be able to; even if she beats the Boltons—"

"Which you've wagered she will."

"—which I would wager, had I anything more than these somewhat threadbare garments to my name," he agreed. "Retaking Winterfell won't be enough; Sansa will then have to hold it, and that might require a different bet altogether. My sister Cersei will send the Lannister forces to bring Sansa back to King's Landing with all due haste. Alive or in pieces, though preferably both. Then there are the Greyjoys, who still hold a fair number of castles and keeps on the western coast along the Bay of Ice. Balon still thinks he can be King of the Iron Islands and the King in the North."

"Isn't that what Robb Stark called himself?" she asked, leaning her elbow on the table and putting her chin on her hand. She was young — about the same age as Jaime and Cersei had been at the start of the Rebellion — but something in her gaze reminded him of this library: vast stores of knowledge, being neatly catalogued and put away for future reference. "The King in the North. Will your Sansa Stark take the same title?"

Sansa Stark was not (and never truly had been) his, but he suspected Daenerys's label was an ironical one. "I don't know," he answered, "but she'll want as much independence for her people as possible. King's Landing hasn't dealt with the North kindly — not even during Robert's reign, and certainly not during your father's."

It was heartening to see her dip her head in acknowledgement at that. Tyrion thanked whatever gods might be listening for Barristan Selmy, who would have told her the truth about Aerys's brutal murder of Sansa's grandfather and uncle: the fire that had burned up the whole of the Seven Kingdoms before Daenerys was ever born.

"It seems she'll have quite enough on her hands for the present moment," Daenerys observed, "without bending the knee to a new queen."

"Give her a year and she'll have the North sorted," he promised, "but now? Enemies to the south, enemies to the west — she's too surrounded to do you much good."

Daenerys looked thoughtful. "Enemies to the north as well, from what I understand."

Tyrion rolled his eyes. "Yes, the fearsome wildlings. Along with White Walkers and giants and mammoths and snarks and grumkins."

"Snarks and grumkins?" she asked, puzzled.

"Fairy stories, Your Grace. Ones the Night's Watch often swear they've seen just north of the Wall, and will bravely dispatch if only we send them more money and men and supplies." He felt a momentary pang of guilt in saying it; Jon Snow at least had been a good lad, and disinclined to indulge in the same hyperbole as his brothers in black. But he was surely dead by now.

#game of thrones fic #game of thrones motherfuckers #got: bitches get stuff done #a gale of wolves #a song of darkness and dawn #fair warning I kind of ship tyrion/dany #but not as much as I ship tyrion/wine #just let him have his coping mechanisms! he has so little!

[asoiafreadthru]

A Game of Thrones, Tyrion II

Benjen Stark emerged from the shelter he shared with his nephew. “There you are. Jon, damn it, don’t go off like that by yourself. I thought the Others had gotten you.”

“It was the grumkins,” Tyrion told him, laughing. Jon Snow smiled.

Stark shot a baffled look at Yoren. The old man grunted, shrugged, and went back to his bloody work.

#a game of thrones #tyrion ii #a song of ice and fire #asoiaf #benjen stark #jon snow #tyrion lannister #yoren #house stark #wolfswood #the others #grumkins #night's watch #camping #shelter #laughter #smile #nephew #blood

[cthaehbutwithafrog]

“And the grumkins and the snarks,” Tyrion said. “Let us not forget them, Lord Snow, or else what’s that big thing for?”

#I always forget tyrin and Jon are like #friends #anyway #my art #tyrion lannister #asoiaf #a song of ice and fire #asoiaf fanart #a song of ice and fire fanart #george rr martin #house lannister #a game of thrones

[fireismine]

ARYA STARK APPRECIATION MONTH 2022

Day 5: House Stark → Arya Embodying House Stark

The Stark look

Sansa could never understand how two sisters, born only two years apart, could be so different. It would have been easier if Arya had been a bastard, like their half brother Jon. She even looked like Jon, with the long face and brown hair of the Starks, and nothing of their lady mother in her face or her coloring. And Jon's mother had been common, or so people whispered. Once, when she was littler, Sansa had even asked Mother if perhaps there hadn't been some mistake. Perhaps the grumkins had stolen her real sister. But Mother had only laughed and said no, Arya was her daughter and Sansa's trueborn sister, blood of their blood. Sansa could not think why Mother would want to lie about it, so she supposed it had to be true. - Sansa I, A Game of Thrones

Frees Northern prisoners from Harrenhal

I need you to help me get those men out of the dungeons. That Glover and those others, all of them. We have to kill the guards and open the cell somehow—" - Arya IX, A Clash of Kings

Gives water to imprisoned Northern soldiers (even though she hates them for terrorising smallfolk)

Arya swung down from her horse. They can't hurt me, they're dying. She took her cup from her bedroll and went to the fountain. "What do you think you're doing, boy?" the townsman snapped. "They're no concern o' yours." She raised the cup to the fish's mouth. The water splashed across her fingers and down her sleeve, but Arya did not move until the cup was brimming over. When she turned back toward the cages, the townsman moved to stop her. "You get away from them, boy—" "She's a girl," said Harwin. "Leave her be." "Aye," said Lem. "Lord Beric don't hold with caging men to die of thirst. Why don't you hang them decent?" The bars were too narrow to pass a cup through, but Harwin and Gendry offered her a leg up. She planted a foot in Harwin's cupped hands, vaulted onto Gendry's shoulders, and grabbed the bars on top of the cage. The fat man turned his face up and pressed his cheek to the iron, and Arya poured the water over him. He sucked at it eagerly and let it run down over his head and cheeks and hands, and then he licked the dampness off the bars. He would have licked Arya's fingers if she hadn't snatched them back. By the time she served the other two the same, a crowd had gathered to watch her. "The Mad Huntsman will hear of this," a man threatened. "He won't like it. No, he won't." - Arya V, A Storm of Swords

Executes a deserter from the Night's Watch

The old woman's corpse was cool by now, the bravo's body stiffening. The girl was used to that. Most days, she spent more time with the dead than with the living. She missed the friends she'd had when she was Cat of the Canals; Old Brusco with his bad back, his daughters Talea and Brea, the mummers from the Ship, Merry and her whores at the Happy Port, all the other rogues and wharfside scum. She missed Cat herself the most of all, even more than she missed her eyes. She had liked being Cat, more than she had ever liked being Salty or Squab or Weasel or Arry. I killed Cat when I killed that singer. The kindly man had told her that they would have taken her eyes from her anyway, to help her to learn to use her other senses, but not for half a year. Blind acolytes were common in the House of Black and White, but few as young as she. The girl was not sorry, though. Dareon had been a deserter from the Night's Watch; he had deserved to die. - The Blind Girl, A Dance with Dragons

#aryastarkmonth2022 #asoiaf #asoiafedit #valyrianscrolls #canonarya #arya stark #arya stark edit #book quote #agot #acok #asos #adwd #my gifs

[ladystoneboobs]

we in fandom like to make jokes about jon snow needing to smile, being an emo boy, serious like stannis or melancholy like rhaegar. i know i've been guilty of that myself, at times. but on re-read these unsmiling accusations just don't hold up.

"There," Jon said. He swung his horse around and galloped back across the bridge. They watched him dismount where the direwolf lay dead in the snow, watched him kneel. A moment later he was riding back to them, smiling. [jon finding puppy ghost] -Bran I, aGoT

Jon grinned and reached under the table to ruffle the shaggy white fur. [petting ghost under the table] -Jon I, aGoT

Jon smiled. [after benjen asked how much wine he'd drunk at the feast] -Jon I, aGoT

He smiled. "Come here, then." [when arya comes to see the boys fight] -Arya I, aGoT

Jon grinned, reached over, and messed up her hair. Arya flushed. [watching bran and tommen sparring] -Arya I, aGoT

He gave her a half smile. [after arya asked why he wasn't down with the other guys] -Arya I, aGoT

Jon chuckled. "Perhaps you should do the same thing, little sister. Wed Tully to Stark in your arms." [after pointing out joffrey's lion-stag coat of arms] -Arya I, aGoT

Jon forced himself to smile back. [saying goodbye to robb] -Jon II, aGoT

Arya gave him a whap on the arm with the flat of her blade. The blow stung, but Jon found himself grinning like an idiot. "I know which end to use," Arya said. [after telling her "stick them with the pointy end"] -Jon II, aGoT

Arya ran to him for a last hug. "Put down the sword first," Jon warned her, laughing. -Jon II, aGoT

Jon Snow stroked Ghost's thick white fur, smiling now. [after ghost knocked tyrion to the ground] -Tyrion II, aGoT

"It was the grumkins," Tyrion told him, laughing. Jon Snow smiled. [after benjen said he was worried the others got jon when he wandered off] -Tyrion II, aGoT

[....]yet she could always make Jon smile. [jon remembering his bond with arya, and the many smiles she got from him] -Jon III, aGoT

Jon ran down the stairs, a smile on his face and Robb's letter in his hand. [after learning bran woke up from his coma] -Jon III, aGoT

Jon smiled at him. "I'm sorry about your wrist. Robb used the same move on me once, only with a wooden blade. It hurt like seven hells, but yours must be worse. Look, if you want, I can show you how to defend that." [making friends with grenn] -Jon III, aGoT

"No," said Jon, smiling, "but Grenn held his own against Halder this morning, and Pyp is no longer dropping his sword quite so often as he did." [after tyrion asked if ghost had learned to juggle yet] -Tyrion III, aGoT

Jon smiled. [making friends with sam] -Jon IV, aGoT

Jon Snow laughed with him. [laughing with sam as ghost licked his face] -Jon IV, aGoT

Jon smiled. [still with sam, telling him about dareon's singing] [....] They laughed at that together. [laughing with sam some more after telling him about toad's bad singing] -Jon IV, aGoT

"You'll do well at that," Jon said, smiling. [after sam tells him he'll be maester aemon's steward] -Jon VI, aGoT

It was only Jon, covered with flour. "You stupid," she told him, "you scared the baby," but Jon and Robb just laughed and laughed, and pretty soon Bran and Arya were laughing too. [arya recalling jon and robb's crypt ghost prank] -Arya IV, aGoT

Sam blushed a vivid crimson and tripped over his own tongue as he tried to stammer out a courtesy. Jon had to smile. [after the old bear compliments jon and sam for their insight about the corpses] -Jon VII, aGoT

The guards smiled at him from their niches as he wound his way down the turret stair, carrying the sword in his good hand. "Sweet steel," one man said. "You earned that, Snow," another told him. Jon made himself smile back at them, but his heart was not in it. [after being given longclaw] -Jon VIII, aGoT

The others laughed, and even Jon had to smile. [the boys teasing jon about being rewarded for burning the lc's chambers] -Jon VIII, aGoT

Ghost sniffed at his carved stone likeness and tried a lick. Jon smiled. [introducing longclaw to ghost] -Jon VIII, aGoT

"They'll do." Jon gave Sam a private smile. "We did." [watching satin and the other new recruits] -Jon I, aCoK

"He likes that word," Jon said, smiling. [hearing the old bear's raven call out "king"] -Jon I, aCoK

"Too few roofs for all of us." Jon mounted again, gave Sam a parting smile, and rode off. [meeting with sam outside whitetree village] -Jon II, aCoK

"A bastard," Jon said with a laugh. [as sam gets hung up speaking of craster's birth] -Jon III, aCoK

Jon smiled. "Want them all for yourself, Dywen?" [joking with dywen about craster's wives] -Jon III, aCoK

Jon smiled. "Well, I hear he's been here a long time." [after dolorous edd wonders if the hill is made of craster's shit] -Jon III, aCoK

Jon smiled. "He wants an axe. And wine as well." [after edd complained more about craster] -Jon III, aCoK

[as edd wonders about craster using the axe to murder them] Jon had to laugh. "Craster's one man. We're two hundred. I doubt he'll murder anyone." -Jon III, aCoK

"I remember," said Jon with a startled laugh. A young black brother on the wallwalk, yes . . . [as mance recalls the first time they met at winterfell] -Jon I, aSoS

"What could you do if you did find her?" Jon asked, smiling. "You said she bit your member off." [joking with tormund about his she-bear lover] -Jon II, aSoS

Jon laughed. "You'd freeze me to death." [when ygritte suggested bathing in a frozen river] -Jon II, aSoS

When Jon laughed, she pulled him in too. [when ygritte stumbled into the pool in the cave] -Jon III, aSoS

[thinking about ygritte] I know one thing. I know that you are wildling to the bone. It was easy to forget that sometimes, when they[jon and ygritte] were laughing together, or kissing. -Jon V, aSoS

Despite fever, exhaustion, his leg, the Magnar, the old man, Ygritte, Mance, despite it all, Jon smiled. It was good to be back, good to see Noye with his big belly and pinned-up sleeve, his jaw bristling with black stubble. [returning home to castle black] -Jon VI, aSoS

Jon made himself smile. "The Frostfangs are cold. This is a brisk autumn day." [when satin complained of the cold before battle] -Jon VII, aSoS

"The chariots, the horsemen, all those fools on foot . . . what are they going to do to us up here? Any of you ever see a mammoth climb a wall?" He laughed, and Pyp and Owen and half a dozen more laughed with him. "They're nothing, they're less use than our straw brothers here, they can't reach us, they can't hurt us, and they don't frighten us, do they?" [watching the wildlings from atop the wall] -Jon VIII, aSoS

[.....]Jon laughed, laughed like a drunk or a madman, and his men laughed with him. -Jon VIII, aSoS

Jon made himself smile. [after owen spoke of his dream of rescue by king robert] -Jon IX, aSoS

Smiling, he left them to it and rode down in the cage. [after giving command of the wall to pyp, shocking pyp and grenn] -Jon IX, aSoS

Jon had to laugh. Even now, even here. [as tormund explained that longspear ryk's name was a dick joke] -Jon X, aSoS

He watched the child nurse at Gilly's breast, and then he watched Jon watch. Jon is smiling. A sad smile, still, but definitely a smile of sorts. Sam was glad to see it. It is the first time I've seen him smile since I got back. -Samwell IV, aSoS

Jon Snow had smiled to see him too, but it was a tired smile, like the one he wore now. "You made it back after all," he said. "And brought Gilly out as well. You've done well, Sam." -Samwell IV, aSoS

Perhaps Jon had ridden with the free folk too long; he could not help but laugh. [after stannis offered to give him the "wildling princess" along with winterfell] -Jon XI, aSoS

[remembering his childhood time with robb] Every morning they had trained together, since they were big enough to walk; Snow and Stark, spinning and slashing about the wards of Winterfell, shouting and laughing, sometimes crying when there was no one else to see. -Jon XII, aSoS

That was so absurd Jon had to smile. "By who?" he said, looking for his friends. [learning he's been nominated as lc] -Jon XII, aSoS

Jon laughed, half amazed that he still remembered how. [at sam saying the raven almost made him wet himself] -Jon XII, aSoS

That made Jon laugh. [at sam describing his inability to swat a bug] -Samwell I, aFfC

“So if I can just convince the lords of the Seven Kingdoms to give us their Valyrian blades, all is saved? That won’t be hard.” No harder than asking them to give up their coin and castles. He[Jon] gave a bitter laugh. [after sam told him about the last hero using "dragonsteel"] -Jon II, aDwD

Jon smiled a strange, sad smile. "And pull your hood up. The snowflakes are melting in your hair." [bidding farewell to sam] -Samwell I, aFfC

Needle was Jon Snow's smile. [arya recalling all of jon's smiles] -Arya II, aFfC

Jon had to smile. "It will not come to that." [after edd joked about having to eat the wildlings in winter] -Jon IV, aDwD

Jon smiled. "Some had best not say so in my presence." [preparing to lead their new brothers to swear vows to the old gods beyond the wall, after edd warned him some men would disapprove] -Jon VII, aDwD

[telling emmett of his new command over a garrison of spearwives] The look of mingled horror and delight that passed across Iron Emmett's face was worth more than a sack of gold. "What have I done to make you hate me so, my lord?" Jon laughed. -Jon VII, aDwD

Jon knew he should not smile, but he did. "Only a mustache. Very wispy. You can count the hairs." [talking to val about selyse's facial hair] -Jon XI, aDwD

[dolorous edd complaining again] [...] Jon smiled. -Jon XII, aDwD

Jon had to laugh. "You never change." [after tormund joked about his dick ring] -Jon XII, aDwD

[tormund, as his people crossed through the gate]"You wanted warriors, didn't you? Well, there they are. Every one worth six o' your black crows." Jon had to smile. -Jon XII, aDwD

so that feels like a fair amount of smiles and outright laughter. only a few of them forced smiles, which is still different from a refusal to ever smile. more of them are "he had to smile" as in a smile he could not help, despite the circumstances, a natural instinct to smile, however sad and/or tired. that's not counting any unnoted by his inner monologue, or those pre-agot smiles or laughs not specifically recalled by arya or another starkling, or any asearchoficeandfire may have missed. not to mention all his jokes made without tormund-like grins or laughs but still with more intentional humor than stannis ever had. sure, he was never as smiley as renly or pre-reek theon, and the frequency of his smiles decreases as shit gets worse and worse, but the point is that his seriousness was never that abnormal. just teenage moodiness from someone whose life really was more unfair than his half-brothers, plus natural northern brooding noted in ned and even robb (who was said to only smile with jeyne and her brothers by asos), moreso than him just being a tragic dark-haired version of rhaegar, prince of sadsacks.

#valyrianscrolls #asoiaf meta #jon snow #asoiaf #jonathan snowflake starkgaryen #long post #so you can't do block quotes with the new text editor huh? #(c)lsb #this seems pedantic but consider it part of the jon is ned and lyanna's son more than rhaegar's agenda #the other takeaway is that he really really likes being around sam #and the visit to craster's keep was a jolly time until he met gilly

[thelustybraavosimaid]

*laughs* yeah ok

So apparently all of this means that Sansa was just concerned for Arya? Fucking really?:

Sansa could never understand how two sisters, born only two years apart, could be so different. It would have been easier if Arya had been a bastard, like their half brother Jon. She even looked like Jon, with the long face and brown hair of the Starks, and nothing of their lady mother in her face or her coloring. And Jon's mother had been common, or so people whispered. Once, when she was littler, Sansa had even asked Mother if perhaps there hadn't been some mistake. Perhaps the grumkins had stolen her real sister. But Mother had only laughed and said no, Arya was her daughter and Sansa's trueborn sister, blood of their blood. Sansa could not think why Mother would want to lie about it, so she supposed it had to be true.

...

One day she came back grinning her horsey grin, her hair all tangled and her clothes covered in mud, clutching a raggedy bunch of purple and green flowers for Father. Sansa kept hoping he would tell Arya to behave herself and act like the highborn lady she was supposed to be, but he never did, he only hugged her and thanked her for the flowers. That just made her worse. (Sansa I, AGoT)

--

"Hodor!" Sansa yelled. "You ought to marry Hodor, you're just like him, stupid and hairy and ugly!" (Sansa II, AGoT)

--

Arya was chewing at her lip in that disgusting way she had. "Can we take Syrio back with us?"

"Who cares about your stupid dancing master?" Sansa flared.

...

When she saw what the fruit in her lap had done to her beautiful ivory silk dress, she shrieked again. "You're horrible," she screamed at her sister. "They should have killed you instead of Lady!" (Sansa III, AGoT)

--

When the bar was down, Arya finally felt safe enough to cry.

She went to the window seat and sat there, sniffling, hating them all, and herself most of all. It was all her fault, everything bad that had happened. Sansa said so, and Jeyne too.

...

"I don't care about their stupid tourney," Arya said. She knew Prince Joffrey would be there, and she hated Prince Joffrey.

Sansa lifted her head. "It will be a splendid event. You shan't be wanted." (Arya II, AGoT)

These are only a few examples. To reduce Arya's low self-esteem and feelings of inadequacy inflicted on her by her mother, sister, and septa to yEaH SaNsA wAs mEaN tO ArYa bUt sHe wAs rEaLlY jUsT cOnCeRnEd fOr hEr is a clear misreading of what the fuck is being said in the books.

ShE's a yOuNg gIrL YEAH ARYA IS NINE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SERIES. NOT ELEVEN. NINE. And I have no idea why it cannot simply be "Sansa hates Arya" because that is what is shown in the books, especially in AGoT. They have an antagonistic relationship. They are deliberate foils.

Call a spade a spade.

#stop excusing cruelty challenge 2023 (fucking impossible apparently)